Thursday, November 22, 2018 - 33rd week in Ordinary Time - Memorial of St. Cecilia

Reflections

for Sunday, January 18, 2015

So clearly today the Lord tells us: I call you! I am calling you! I have
called you! The first reading is from the First Book of Samuel and speaks
of the call of Samuel. Samuel at first things that it is Eli calling him.
Eli finally understands that there is Someone greater than he who is
calling Samuel. Then Eli gives good advice.

What a wonderful teaching. So often we stand in the way of the call of
others because we don’t understand that God is calling them. We too stand
in the way of God speaking to others. We need to have the wisdom of Eli
and recognize that God is calling all others and we can be the servants of
that call for others or we can stand in the way. It is wisdom that we
need.

The First Letter to the Corinthians speaks to us today about the body as a
temple of the Holy Spirit. Perhaps for some of us, our body has become
less than a temple of the Holy Spirit. Perhaps for some of us, our body
has become a source of immorality. This immorality could be sexual but it
could also be a misuse of our body with drugs, with alcohol, with tobacco,
with a bad diet, etc. We don’t have to be fixated on sexuality. Sexuality
is not the only immorality!

The Gospel brings us to the call of the first followers of Jesus. Who is
with Andrew when those first two are called? We don’t know from this
account, but it was not Peter. Andrew is the brother of Simon Peter and
he, Andrew, went to find his brother and tell him about this Jesus who had
called them. Clearly Andrew does not want to stand in the way of a call to
his brother. Rather he wants his brother to meet the person who has called
him. Andrew wants to share.

Sharing is another aspect of the call of God in our lives. Do we really
want to share the call we have received? How do we share it? Aren’t we
embarrassed to tell others that we follow Jesus? Are we embarrassed to
tell others that this following of Jesus demands certain behaviors from
us?

We are challenged this Sunday first to recognize that He, the Lord Jesus,
is calling us personally. Then we are challenged to share that call with
others. This is what evangelization is about: telling others the story of
our own calling and bring them to know the Lord Jesus Christ.